vegetarian - Horticultural Sciences Department

INSTITUTE
AGRICULTURAL
OF
UNIVERSITY
FOOD
ANO
SCIENCES
OF
FLORIOA
FLORIDA
COOPERATIVE
EXTENSION
SERVICE
VEGETARIAN
A VegetableCrops .ExtensionPublication
\e8etable Crops Department• 1'2
55 HSPP• Gainesville. fL 32611• Tdephone 39'2-'21
De c ember 8 , 1983
Vegeta r ian 83 -12
CONTENTS
I.
NOTES OF INTEREST
A.
B.
C.
I I.
COMM
ERCIAL VEGETABLEPRODUCTI
ON
A.
B.
III.
New Publications
Veg etab l e Cr op s Cal enda r
West Mex ico Vegeta bl e Im lus tr y Tour
Fertilit
y Manag ement Usi ng Irr ig atio n Syst ems
Fertilizer
Man agemen t For Over he ad I r rig a ted Tomat oe s
HOMEVEGETABLE GARDENING
A.
Ex tendi ng Gar dening
Info rma tio n via Video t ex t
The I nst i tute of Food and Agrii;:ultural Sciences is an Equal Employment Opportunity·
Affirmative Action Emp !oyer
educat iona l i nformat io n and other services on ly to individuals and inst i tutions that function w i thout regard to race,
COOPERAT I VE EXTENSION WORK IN AGRICULTURE
ANO HOME ECONOMICS , STATE OF FLORIDA.
FLORIDA . U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE.
AND BOARDS OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS
authorized to p rovide research.
color, sex, or nationa l or igin .
IFAS, UNIVERSITY OF
COOPERATING
-2-
I.
NOTES OF INTEREST
A. New Publications
Howe , T. K. , J. W. Scott and W. E . Waters . August 1983. Fresh
Mar ket Tomato Variety Tr ial Results for Spring 1983 . Univ. of
Fla.,
IF AS Bradenton AREC-Res. Rept . BRA1983- 20 .
J . W., C. D. Sta nley and G. A. Marlowe, Jr . Septem ber
Prevatt,
1983. Microcomputers:
A Potential
Tool for Agricultural
Producers.
Uni v . of Fl a ., IFAS, Bradenton AREC Res . Rept . BRA1983-2 1.
Gilre ath , J . P.
fo r Gypsophila .
BRA1983- 22.
September 1983 . Preliminary
Herbicide
Screening
Univ. of Fl a . , IFAS , Br a dent on AREC Res . Rept .
Gi lre ath , J .P.
September 1983. Preliminary
Herbicide
Screening
f or Stat ice . Univ . of Fla . , IFAS, Br adent on AREC Res . Rept .
BRA1983-23 .
The abov e lis t ed report s are availab l e f rom Bradenton
FL 33508 .
60th St . E. , Bradenton,
AREC,
5007
Everett,
P . H. and Kar en A. Armbrester . August 1983. Staked
Tomato Variety Tr ial Results
- Fal l 1982 . Univ . of Fla ., IFAS,
Immokalee ARC Res . Rept . IMM83-2.
Ever e t t , P . H. and Karen A. Armbrester . August 1983 . Staked
Tomato Variet y Tr ial Results - Spring 1983 . Univ . of Fla. , IFAS,
Immokalee ARC Res . Rep t . IMM83-3
The above list ed r eports are availa bl e f rom Immokalee ARC, Rt.
1, Box 2G, Inunokalee, FL 33934.
Cucurbit Variety Evaluation-1983
by G. W. Elmstro m, Research
Report LBG83-4 is available
from Leesburg ARC, P.O . Box 388 ,
Le esbur g , FL 3274 8 .
B. Vegetable
1.
Crop s CalP-ndar
Flori da Weed Science
Society
The Seventh
Annual Meetin g of FWSS will
28th and 29th in Gainesv i lle.
2.
Sou thern
be he l d February
Weed Sci ence Societ y
Th e 3 7th Annual Meeting of the SWSS wi ll be held January
17, 18, 19, 1984 at the Arlington
Hotel , Hot Springs Arkansas .
The theme this year for the meeti ngs is : Bio technol ogy and
Weed Science .
-31.
Weed Science
Society
of Ameri ca
Florida
is hosting WSSAFebruary
Regency Hotel, Miami.
4,
8-10,
Immokalee
Field
April
1984 - 1 pm Immokal ee ARC.
18,
C. West Mexico Vegetable
198 4 at
th e Hyatt
Day
Industry
Tour
Norman F . Oebker , Prof. of Horticult ur e, Univ. of Ar izo na is
planning
a st u dy tour of the veg eta bl e industry
of the west coast
of Mexico . The date set for the trip is February 26 t o March
2, 1984 .
Those interested
information.
II .
in the tour
should
contact
Norm for more
COMMERCIAL
VEGETABLEPRODUCTION
A. Fertili
t y Management Using Irrigation
System s
"Soil Fe rti lity Management for Tomatoes Using Seep Irrigation
and Pl astic Mulch" was republished
i n last months Vegetarian.
This month we continue
the series
with the follow i ng article
on overhead ir r i gation by S. J . Loca sc io . These art icles wP r P.
original l y published
in VC 83-3, Florida Tomato Institute.
- Stall B. Ferti l izer
Management For Overhead
Irrigated
Tomatoes
Successful
tomato production
is closely
related
to rate an d
composition
of fe rtiliz er , its placement and to water management.
Because of the po t ent i al value of mul che d tomatoes,
pro ducers
often over fe r til iz e to minimize r isk of production
l oss du e
to infertili
t y. Although tomatoe s ar e more tolerant
t o soluble
salts
than most vegetables , best gr owth is ob t aine d when tolerant
t;uncentration
levels
of fe rt il ize r salts are used and soil moisture
is maintained
at or just below field capacity.
If t he so il in
the bed under the mulch is allowed to become dry , salts are concentrated
and reductions
in growth may occur . This pot ential
in jury can
be minimized by proper fertilizer
management .
With ove r head irrigation,
wate r is generally
applied at l
t o 1.5 inches per wee k. Water falling
on the tomato plants is
funneled into the plant hole and resu lts in salt movement downward
and away from t he plant.
In contrast,
wi th subsurface
irrigation,
wate r is applied
fr om be low the bed and salts movement is up ward
an d accuurulate at the highest
point on the bed . Salt injury
can be easily minimized with prop e r fert i lizer manage ment with
overhead irrigated
tomatoes.
-4 Nutrient
requirem ents.
Flatwoods
soils
typically
used for tom ato
production
are natively
poorly dr a ined, extremely
acid (pH 3.5
to 4 . 0) and must be limed to 6.0 to 6 . 5 fo r best tomato production .
At l ow pH levels,
Al, Fe and Mn are more soluble
and their
toxicity
reduces
tomato plant growth . Afte r liming,
risk o f toxicity
of these eleme nts is r edu ced.
Also, or gan isms transform
organicn itro gen to ammonium-nitrogen
and nitrification
fr om ammoni umnitrogen
to nitrate-nitrogen
proceed rapidly . The qua nt ity and
source of l ime depends on soil test results.
Dolomitic
limestone
i s applied
or Mg is added to the fer t ilize r where soil Mg is
be l ow 10% of the soil ' s exchangeable
cations . With high annual
rainfall
and low exchange capacity
of these soils,
soluble
nutrients
such as N and K do not accu mulate from season to season and must
be applied
for each tomato crop.
In so me acid soils,
applied
P can be leached an d in other s are rapidly
fixed to unavailable
fo ,rms.
Fertilizers
generally
must supply 90 to 95 % of the crops
N nee ds and 75% or more of the P, K, and micronutrient
requirements.
Marl an d ro ck soils have high pH levels
in contrast
to those
of virgin
fla twood soils but they a re also infertile
so that
plant deficiencies
of all elements
except Ca may occur witho ut
fe rti liza ti on .
Rate . Fertilizer
rates
for tomatoes
and rate of crop gr owth . Rates that
production
are as follows :
For
2 harvests
:
For 3 or 4 harvests
sh oul d be rel ate d to length
have provided maximum toma to
160 - 240 - 240 lb/acre
:
220 -24 0-330
N-P 2o /K 20
5
lb/acre
N-P 205/K 20
On newly planted
soils or where mic ron utrients
are known
to be deficient,
ap pl y about 2 . 0 lb/acre
Mn and Zn, 5 . 0 lb/acre
Fe, and 1. 0 lb/acre
Cu an d B. Micronutrients
from several
s our ces
including
oxides and sulfates
hav e been eq ual ly ef fective
an d
should be applied
with the fer tilizer.
Tomato production
durin g the cooler period of winter occurs
lower l ight intensity
and shorte r day s than occur in the
spring
wh id1 results
in redu ced plant
growth
rates
.
Under the se
conditions,
fertilizer
rates
f or N-P-K should be about 80 % of
those l iste d above.
with
Placement . Fertilizer
should be placed in the bed in a loca ti on
to minimize plant injury
and to maximize nutrient
uptake.
With
overhead
irrigat
ion , nutrient
movement will be downward and away
f rom the plant hole in the polyethylene
mulch and soluble
salt
inJury will not be as gr eat a problem as with subsurface
irrigation
.
At the low er rates
of ferti lizer
liste d ab ove used with 4 to
5 feet bed centers,
maximum tomato production
has been obtained
with 100% broadcast
application
of the fertilizer
or combinations
of broadcast
and banded fertilizer.
Wit h hig he r ferti l izer rates
and wider bed spacing,
100% broadcas t placement
may .re su l t in
reduced yields
due to soluble
salt inju ry and therefore
a co mbi nation
of broadcast
and band placement
results
in best pro duction . For
the combi nation placement,
30 to 40% of the N an d Kand 100%
-5-
of the P, an d micronutrients
are broadcast
and incorporated
in
the bed . The remaining N and K is applied
in a band 6 to 8 inches
to t he side of the tomato seed or transplant
an d 2 to 4 inches
deep.
Location
of the band at this de pth in the soil is essential
for maximum nutrient
utilization
. The soil sho ul d be moist when
the mulch is ap plied as it is difficult
to wet soil in the bed
after
the mulch is applied
on a dry soi l .
Nutri en t sources:
Tomatoes grown with overhead irrigation
can
be grown successfu ll y with N f rom soluble
s ources including
NH No , KNO, Ca(N0 )
or par t of the N from slow released
N
4 3 sue~ as sulrur~coated
3 2
sources
urea (SCU) and isobut yl id ene di urea
(IBDU) . A minimum of 25% of the N should be in th e N03- N form.
The use of urea and (NH~) SO should be mi ni miz ed.
Potassium
can be supplied
form KCL,K
or KN0 . In a r eas where the i rrigation
2
3
water is of medium to l ow quality,
low salt index sou rce s should
be used to mini mize salt in ju ry from the fertilizer.
s6~
III
HOMEVEGETABLEGARD
ENING
A. Extending
Garden ing Information
via
Vi deotext
The Florida
Cooperative
Extension
Service,
wit h inputs from
the Vegetable
Crops Department , helped launch a two - way electronic
information
and marketing
system called
vi de o text.
This was
the first
use of such system in the United States . The new computerized
technol og y ha s the potential
for revolutionizing
the way Americans
receive
information
and bu y home pro du cts .
Videotext
is the gene ri c name fo r the ho me communications
system invented
in England in 1976 . The system makes available
to the tel evi si on viewer la rge amounts of graphic
and t~xtual
information,
thr ough the use of a decoder and storage unit connected
to a ho me television
set . The viewer simply picks up a control
a few buttons .
unit similar
to a hand held calculator
and presses
Inst antly a menu (list)
o f gen era l topics
such as news, shopping ,
health,
entertainment,
and gar de ning is displayed , from which
an item of interest
is selecte d for the latest
facts and figures .
The system with which the Fl ori da Extension
Se rv ice has been
associated
is called
Viewtr on, the trademark na me belonging
to
the Viewdata Corporation
of America, Inc . , a subsidia ry of the
Knight-Ridder
Publishing
Co. Vi ewtron represents
a 26 mill io n
dollar
first - year investment
project
in the world of videotext
for the company that owns The Miami Her al d .
-6The Viewtron syste m was tested
in 1980 in Coral Gabl es with
204 hou seh olds receiving
th e service
free . Based on positive
reactions
fr om homes using Viewtr on , Knight-Ridder
began a market
test in Se pt ember of 1983 , linking
500 0 subscribers
in Dade ,
Broward , and Pal m Bea ch Count ies.
Normally,
the system terminal
costs $900, bu t ha s been of fe red in th is 1983 test to subscribers
f or aro un d $600.
In addition,
Vi ewtr on estimates
an oth er $25
to $30 as a mont hl y serv ice f ee (spl it between Viewtron an d the
loc al telephone
co mpany .)
IF AS p rovide d Vie wtr on with i nfo rmatio n in th e a reas of nutri tion,
f oo ds , and home garde n ing, al ong wit h some other topi cs,
for t h e curr ent p ilo t project.
Home vegetable
gardening
was
one of the topics
included.
Much of the ga rd en ing informat io n was already
written
in
fa ct sheets,
ci rcula r s , and bu ll eti ns, but h ad to be adapted
to t he vid eot ext
format . The v ege tabl e crops spe cial is t worked
jou rna l ism professional
to de velop
with a spe cia l ly assigned
the vege t abl e ga rd eni ng pro gr ams.
Step-by s tep pr oce du res for
garde n planni ng, soil prepar a tion,
pla nting,
an d gar den care
were outlined
with empha sis on Sout h Florida
co ndi tions . Also,
a 12- mont h ca l enda r o f gardening
eve nt s was inc lud ed , along with
indivdual
cr op i nfo rmat ion.
As an exa mpl e of
the use r who wanted
h ad mer el y to select
the sub - t opic tomato
r eco mmene ded varieties
presented,
possi bly
the us efu l ne ss of th e system to th e viewer,
to know the varie t y of t omato se eds t o pu rchase
fro m t he menu the su bject gardening,
t h en
. The i nf orma tin an tomato cu lt ur e inc luding
would be r etrieved
by the comput er and
eve n graphically,
on the te levision
scr ee n .
An additonal
component of th e I FAS i n put is th e "Ask the
Expert " segment.
Subscribers
cal l in ho rtic ul tur al questions
on t he ir computer systems,
the Da de Count y Exte ns ion st aff pr e pares a re ply , and th es e are dis play ed t o all subscribers.
As oth e rs h ave poi nted out, most of what vi deo tex t has to
of fer is alr ead y more eff ici en tl y pr ovid e d by magazines,
ne wspapers,
TV ad ver t isin g , catalogs,
and oth er publ i cat ion s . There fore , as the author of "Vid oetext Jo urn a lism " stat ed , " as long
as the ser v ices it i s in te nde d to r epl ace re main relatively
cheap,
v id eote xt wi ll be an el ite medium and no t a mass medium."
And
that is precisely
the cri ti ci sm most frequently
ex pre ss ed by
most extension
wor kers he aring of the con cept fo r the first
t ime that we are not re ach ing th e masses bu t a sma ll class o f affluent
citizens,
i n st ead . However, America i s he ad ing for new ele ctr onic
dimensions
ba sed on compute rs . The qu est ion i s not whether i t
will happen, but h ow bes t t o get a piece of the action . As Dean
App bas s aid , "they' re goin g t o get th e ir in for mati on from us
or from someone else,
so it mi ght a s well be us; in-f act, it
shoul d be us ."
(Stephens-Veg
12- 83)
-7-
Prepared
by Extension
Vegetable
D. N. Mayna rd
Chairman
Crops
Specialists
S . P . Kovach
Assistant
G. A. Marlowe
Professor
S . M. Olson
Assistant
Professor
Professor
M. Sherman
Associate
Professor
W. M. Stall
Assistant
_\ ~
Profess~
\)S
J . M. Stephens
Associate
Professor
NOTE:
Anyone i s fr ee to use the information
in this newsletter
ever possible,
please give credit
to the auth or s .
The use of trade names in this pub l ication
is so l el y for
purpose of pr oviding
information
and does not necessarily
a recommendation
of th e product .
Statement:
$184.
"This
71 or
technical
industry
32<;: per
pub lic
document
cop y for
and educational
personnel .
the
When the
constitute
was promulg ate d at a cost
purpose
materials
.
of
communicating
to extension,
research
of
current
and